At Sunset awarded the winners of MTV Brand New

Last night, MTV announced Adelaide-based trio AtSunset as the winners of the first ever MTV Brand New competition in Australia and New Zealand, smashing the comp with almost 200,000 votes.

Over the past 10 weeks, 10 Aussie and Kiwi emerging artists have gone head-to-head competing for the winning title. The announcement was revealed at the MTV Brand New winner showcase event at the Metro in Sydney, which included a victory performance from At Sunset.

Supporting performances on the night included Brisbane-born MTV Brand New runner-up, ConradSewell, who recently made ARIA chart history for his single “Start Again”, alongside his sister GraceSewell for “You Don’t Own Me”, as the first Australian siblings to both hit #1 with different tracks.

ChrisWatts, the only unsigned MTV Brand New contestant in the mix, followed on to showcase his vocal and guitar skills alongside his Melbourne-based self-titled band. Sydney-based DJs SetMo finished off the night by hitting the decks to the VIP crowd of media, celebrities, industry reps and MTV fans.

The MTV Brand New competition allowed the public to vote online for their favourite emerging Aussie or Kiwi act, while MTV gives the artists the support and on-air exposure they need to make a mark in the industry.

The competition followed on from the continued success of MTV Brand New in the UK, which put popular artists such as Sam Smith, Florence & the Machine, Adele, Jessie J, Charli XCX and most recently JamesBay onto the international scene.

MTV partnered with music labels across Australia and New Zealand to find the 10 best up-and-coming artists, selected by an expert panel of MTV judges, to take part in the competition.

The contestants in the 2015 MTV Brand New competition were Conrad Sewell, Josef Salvat, Thomston, Tkay Maidza,ChrisWatts, Winterbourne, Carmada, CosmosMidnight and Set Mo with At Sunset taking home the winning title.

“We’re absolutely stoked to have won the MTV Brand New competition, and we owe it all to our amazing fans and the continued support that MTV has given us throughout the comp,” said Harrison Kantarias from At Sunset.

“We were up against some fierce competition like Conrad Sewell, who has already topped the charts during the comp, so we just can’t believe that we racked up so many votes and ended up winning! It’s been an awesome ride!”

“We’re absolutely stoked to have won the MTV Brand New competition, and we owe it all to our amazing fans and the continued support that MTV has given us throughout the comp,” said HarrisonKantarias from At Sunset.

“We were up against some fierce competition like Conrad Sewell, who has already topped the charts during the comp, so we just can’t believe that we racked up so many votes and ended up winning! It’s been an awesome ride!”

Since winning Nova’s Fresh Discovery earlier this year, At Sunset has exceeded five million views on YouTube and have an ever increasing army of fans globally with over one million social followers. The band’s single “Replay” exceeded 400,000 YouTube views in the first two weeks of uploading and was endorsed by the original artist, Zendaya. The band has since released a new single “Every Little Thing” which was written in LA in collaboration with American pop rock band, Hot Chelle Rae.

MTV Brand New Live 2015 will premiere on MTV Music on October 3 at 4.30PM.

MTV Brand New competition winners At Sunset
Photo: Anna Kucera

Singer Conrad Sewell

DJ Jesabel

The Voice’s Sarsha Simonne

MTV VJs Kate Peck and Krit

At Sunset’s Harrison Kantarias

At Sunset’s Tom Jay Williams

The audience gets excited at MTV Brand New

Crowd rocking out at MTV Brand New

At Sunset at The Metro Theatre

Chris Watts performs for the crowd

MTV Brand New competition runner-up Conrad Sewell

Conrad Sewell performing

Audience at MTV Australia and New Zealand’s inaugral Brand New competition winners announced event

About At Sunset

Australian pop rock band At Sunset formed in 2014 and features brothers Harrison and AndrewKantarias and their friend TomWilliams. Originally from Adelaide, South Australia, the trio bonded over their shared love of music. Williams made his debut as the youngest ever top ten finalists on AustralianIdol in 2008. In 2009 Tom opened for JohnFarnham; in 2010 opened for ShannonNoll, StanWalker and Jessica Mauboy; and in 2013 before joining At Sunset, Tom opened for global sensation 5 Seconds of Summer. Tom plays guitar and does vocals for the group.AndrewKantarias made his performing debut in 2004 in the world-renowned play, The Ring Cycle. He has since performed in various musicals including Cat in the Hat and The Wizard of Oz. Andrew now plays the drums and does vocals for the group. Harrison Kantarias fell in love with music at age seven when he began learning how to play the guitar. That love for music grew with him and has always remained his highest priority. Harrison now plays guitar and does vocals for the group. In January 2013, the band toured with Australian pop artist ReeceMastin and featured on children’s television show SaturdayDisney. At Sunset also headlined the Teen Rush tour in April 2013 with bands Titanium and Kristina. In May 2014 the boys undertook a promotional tour of the USA and secured interviews with RyanSeacrest, TigerBeatMagazine and The Rhonde Show.